FARMINGTON — Farmington appeared on the verge of a comeback after Ty Tice walked in a run in the championship game of the Class 4A North Regional Tournament.
But Tice regained his composure and struck out five of the final six batters he faced to preserve Prairie Grove’s 6-3 victory. Prairie Grove now owns regional and district baseball championships over Farmington after the Cardinals won the conference regular season championship over the Tigers.
Farmington got to within 6-3 in the sixth inning with the help of two walks, an error, and a wild pitch by Tice, who took over for starter JD Speed. Tice walked Josh Mueller with the bases loaded, but he got a called third strike against Levi Strope.
He then blew three strikes past Spencer Boudrey to end the inning before striking out two of the three batters in the ninth to end the game. Tice earned the save for Speed, which pitched into the sixth.
“He has done a heck of a job this year in controlling his tempo,” Prairie Grove coach Mitch Cameron said of Tice. “It was a big deal for him to come in and do that job. He showed he is growing as a student-athlete and as a competitor.”
Prairie Grove (22-4) advance to the regional championship by beating Lincoln 12-1 in five innings, while Farmington beat Ozark 8-2 in earlier games on Tuesday. Prairie Grove will play at noon on Friday and Farmington at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the Class 4A State Tournament at Harrison.
In the third-place game, Ozark scored 11 runs in the seventh inning to break a tie and defeat Lincoln 19-10. Tripp White had a two-run double and two-run home run for the Hillbillies, who collected seven hits in the inning. Toby Richard added a three-run triple.
Prairie Grove scored four runs in the third inning against Farmington to take a 5-1 lead. Jon Halbert smashed a two-run double and Spencer Kilgore had a two-run single to cap the rally.
Farmington scored in the first inning after two walks and an RBI single by Taylor Burba.
“We don’t worry abut who’s on the other side,” Cameron said. “There’s a game within the game of baseball and we have to make sure we win that game. As long as we execute, we’ll win.”
Prairie Grove 6, Farmington 3
Farmington^100^002^0^—^3^4^2
Prairie Grove^014^100^—^6^6^2
Ness, Pittman (3), Thompson (6) and Burba; Speed, Tyce (6) and Sugg. W - Speed. L - Ness. Sv - Tice. HRs - None